Lies and Deceit Quotes in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Oskar not only lies, he keeps track of the number of lies he tells. It's a little self-destructive, making the lies out to be a lot worse than they actually are. But Oskar knows how much his Dad valued "the truth," so he tries to make every effort to be honest.

We can't imagine Oskar's French teacher falling for this forged letter from Oskar's mother. He's not as good at lying as he thinks he is. If only he were doing Macbeth instead of Hamlet he might understand "the lady doth protest too much."

We wonder if Oskar was told this by his father, that he's supposed to protect his mother. We're also uncertain if hiding his Dad's final messages from his Mom is protecting her from anything she doesn't already know.

We're not sure why Grandma decides to keep this letter a secret from her parents. Would anything have changed if she had told them about it?

Oskar eventually has to stop keeping track of all the lies he's telling because he has told so many. When lying becomes the norm, it starts to seem a little more acceptable.

Oskar feels the need to pay some sort of penance for lying. The funny part in this case is that he does: he sends fifty cents to diabetes research. Well, it was a small lie.

The size of lies is interesting to ponder. Grandpa has no problem pretending that he loves Grandma, or leaving without telling her goodbye, but he can't lie to her when she asks if he's wearing sunscreen. Why does he choose that moment to be honest?

This is a little deceitful. The "renter" tells the truth by saying his name is Thomas, but he doesn't tell the whole truth: that he is Oskar's grandfather. Why does he keep this secret, even when face-to-face with his own grandson? Who's he protecting?

Oh, Grandpa, this old lie again? He rolls out the same lie with Grandma years later but she sees through it this time. She knows this lie is code for "I'm leaving you. Again."

Oskar has trouble realizing that his Mother seems to not tell him a lot of things in order to protect him. However, it seems like her secrets cause more misunderstanding than they do protect Oskar from harm.